2019, 06-09 SHE POWER Half Marathon

Sadly, I don't remember much about this race now.

Saturday, June 8th: I went to the 50 States Half Marathon dinner the night before at Rock Bottom. One fun fact from the night is that a woman had called into work that Friday before hoping to get a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium. I learned that she was originally from Indiana (Crawfordsville) but currently living in North Carolina. She is an Army veteran, Colts fan and dealing with an elderly mother as well. There was just something about talking to her on the phone that clicked with me and before you know it, I've invited to her to the dinner that night and made arrangements for her to see the stadium afterward.

Sunday, June 9th: there was rain in the forecast so I didn't take my phone with me so I don't have any course photos along the way but it was the same route as last year. The rain was different this year though. Although in 2018 it rained almost the entire race it was mostly a light rain. This year the rain would stop and start multiple times and it came down heavy at times which then made an area behind the zoo even more flooded than the prior year. 

131 Events gets some great photos from the race which are always free to download and I got some from friends as well.

It was an honor to run a bit with Linda. This woman is a powerhouse and I hope that I will have her drive and will when I am her age.

Barely...but its a floatie picture!

Luckily I met a very nice woman in line at the Finisher's banner who was kind enough to take a photo of me with her phone and then text it to me. The photographer that was there left just before it was our turn and although I could have walked to my vehicle to get my phone and come back - it was only 2 blocks away - I was soaked and really just wanted to get home and into a warm shower then dry clothes.

This medal though...

Official race photo

To really get a feel for how big this medal is I placed it next to the saucer that we were served cake on. If you want a ginormous quality medal, you have to do a 131 Event!

Initially we were told that this was going to be the last year for this race. The folks that run 131 Events have moved to Arizona and have decreased the number of races that they now do in Indiana but a few days after the race was over they posted on Facebook that they changed their minds and that they would be back in 2020 for the 5th year of SHE Power.

Obviously, I'll be back for year #5.



2019, 05-11 Running With The Cows Half Marathon

Here we go again: I'm going to start a half marathon recap by saying, "I hadn't planned on doing this race but then I saw the medal."  

It was the 10th anniversary for Running With The Cows and I'd heard nothing but amazing things about this race. And although Kansas had already been crossed off the 50 States Half Marathon list, I just had to try to make this work. Another factor in being able to do this was having a spot at Dan & Paula's to stay. They are the most amazing people and such wonderful & gracious hosts to always open their home to runners.

It was going to be a little over 7 hours to drive to Dan & Paula's and I also needed to stop at packet pickup first. Loaded up the car Friday morning - needed to stop at the grocery store for a few last minute items - but I was ready to get moooooving! (I'll try to keep the "cow jokes" to a minimum)

Construction was bad as I got in to Kansas and I was also there close to rush hour traffic so I missed getting my "Welcome to Kansas" sign. *Sigh* I have one from when I was here back in 2013 but it isn't very good. 

I had some difficulty finding the packet pickup location. It was at a Scheels Sporting Goods store but it was in a "mall complex" and set toward the back with other businesses closer to the road. There is a Ferris Wheel in this store and you get a coupon to take a ride for free. But I felt as though I was pressed for time and had to pass. 😢 

It was then off to Dan & Paula's. I think I was one of the last girls to arrive. All of the single females were sleeping in the basement and the couples were upstairs in the bedrooms. There were 8 of us in that basement but we weren't crowded at all. It was fun down there with everyone and what a great opportunity to meet more 50 Staters! 

Not too long after getting settled in, it was time to leave for the 50 States dinner. 

What a gathering! And then toward the end, the Race Director, staff and Queenie showed up. This was such a fun evening and I even met some people from my home state at the dinner that I didn't know. The 50 States Club is the best.

We all piled in various vehicles race morning and caravaned to the start. The race takes place in Bucyrus, KS and was about a 40 minute (?) drive from Dan & Paula's house. We got lucky and were able to park in a grassy area. It had been raining and some of the fields where people would need to park were muddy.

How can you not love a cow themed race and then they have a baby cow you can get your picture taken with?!?!?!

More pre-race cow item pictures!

The race starts outside of the Queen of the Holy Rosary Catholic School. We were able to wait inside and then post-race this is where the big spread of food also is. While hanging out inside waiting for it to get closer to the start time I was checking out all the delicious desserts they had. I saw these adorable cow cookies. I commented to the lady that there probably wouldn't be any left by the time my friends and I finished. She asked how long it would take us and said she's see what she could do. 

Thankfully, the rain had let up by the time the race was getting ready to start. We were able to get in the different club photos.

For the first couple of miles, I initially tried to stay with a pace group that I couldn't keep up with but then found the 2:55 group and they were a lot of fun and I'm glad I was doing intervals with them. We ended up finishing in just over 2:52. This course was challenging with many rolling hills. I'm declaring this time as a win for sure.

I saw Paula and Pam (and little Mia) on the course and then saw Dan too.

Dan and Paula are all-stars at this race and this race embodies community. Dan pushed through some pretty bad knee pain but always maintained a smile on his face. It was so much fun to cheer them on crossing the finish line as well.

I'm happy to report that the lady I talked to pre-race about the cow cookies saved some back for me and I was able to share them with my friends. That was so wonderful of her to do.

Notice that cowbell? Along with these amazing medals we all also got a cowbell! (10 Years of Moo!) 

I was super happy that the little cow was back for some port-race photos.

That medal though...

After everyone had finished the race and gotten some food, it was time to get loaded back in the cars and head back to Dan & Paula's house. They then began setting out the biggest spread of food that you've ever seen. Not only for all of us that stayed there but for all of the 50 Staters and other running friends. These two are just the best. Unfortunately I couldn't stay too long since I had to drive back to Indiana and I would lose an hour. 

I truly had the best time at this race and made so many new friends. It might have been a whirlwind trip and a state that I didn't need but I'm incredibly thankful that I went and I will forever be grateful to Dan & Paula.

2019, 04-06 Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon

I hadn't really planned on doing this half marathon again but then...I saw the medal! Celebrating their 55th year, it was going to be a 5 dollar bill and 5 pennies. It looked amazing and naturally I needed that for my collection and couldn't pass it up. I think I was able to register prior to a rate increase. Where I had some initial difficulty was with the hotel. Springfield, IL doesn't have too many options and I wanted to stay at the host hotel - where I had stayed before - since it was super close to the start / finish lines. But the group rate was full and if I still wanted to stay there, they had rooms available but I had to book at two night stay. Ummm....NO! I did go ahead and reserve a room there because I could cancel it and I was hoping that I could call back closer to race date and something else would be available. I then also book a room at the other hotel as well.

I got lucky and I was able to get into the preferred hotel and didn't have to have the two night minimum. I didn't get the group rate but I felt like I got a win out of the situation so I was pleased. Later I learned that the other hotel wasn't in a very nice section of town so I'm glad I didn't have to stay there.

I worked half day on Friday and then left from downtown Indy to Springfield. They are an hour behind us so that helps. I arrived at the hotel around 3:00 PM local time and was able to pull up right in the front and go check in. If I remember correctly, I somehow got upgrade to a suite. It was nice!

I had some time to kill before packet pickup opened so I went and checked out the Old State Capitol. It was closed when I was here for the race the first time. So much history in this building!

Went back to the room and unpacked a little before heading down to get my bib. Packet Pickup = what a cluster. People were standing around kind of nilly willy and it was tough to determine where the true beginning of the line was. And it only got worse as more people showed up before they opened.

Later in the evening I met some of the 50 Staters at a restaurant near by for dinner. It is always super fun getting to know club members that I'm meeting for the first time. J and her husband were the only people I knew but really enjoyed all the folks from Springfield. (And I have now been to several other races with these ladies and they are awesome!)

We gathered pre-race for the 50 States Half Marathon Club photo.

Since this was only my 2nd half marathon of 2019 and I'm still not doing ANY training or other races longer than a 5K, I was pretty sure that my finish time would be over 3 hours but I got it in at 2:56. I'm pleased with that because this course has some hills. I got my post-race picture with Abe and Mary Todd and then hurried back over to the hotel to shower and load everything back in to the car to head home. I'd be losing an hour going back to Indiana.

Across the street from where I had parked was this cute popcorn shop so I got a treat for the ride home.

But one last stop at Lincoln's tomb for the medal photo shoot.